Even the glistening sheen of the large slice of pizza couldn’t pull me from the misery I was in. I watched Lia lift her slice of pizza from the pan, the string of white and yellow dangling over the sides. It looked good, but I couldn’t bring myself to take a bite. I looked around the crowded food court seeing couples lean over the table feeding each other, at families bickering over who got what meal, at the sad workers handing out free samples.

“Oh my god this is so good,” Lia brought up her shoulders, squeezing her eyes shut as she chewed.

“Mhm,” I tore pieces off the crust, taking little bites. I suddenly felt sick looking at the greasy mess in front of me and pushed the pizza away. Lia looked up and put down her own slice before her hand landed on top of mine, “Okay, what’s wrong with you? Where’s the excitement? The giddiness? The weird moans?”

I shrugged.

“I hate it when you act like this, you know that right? What’s wrong? What happened?” Lia wiped her hands on a napkin and took a sip of her coke.

Twirling my straw around I let out a breathy laugh, “You were right, you know. I am ually deprived and e to food.”

She spat out her drink and started to choke. Lia’s face grew red real quick and I couldn’t help but laugh. She hit her chest repeatedly with her other hand in the air, “W-wait…what—“

I handed her my water, “I’m being serious.”

“Kim Ji Ah, what are you…You’re crazy.” She threw her napkin at me and pulled me down lower towards the table, “Tell me from the start what in the world is happening and why you are even…committing such a sin, my god the next time my family and I are going to church you’re coming with me, you hear me missy?”

This is why I loved her so much. Lia had the magic power to make me feel better. She was crazy and sweet and so much like my mother it kind of freaked me out but she blew my problems so out of the water it actually made them seem silly.

“I saw Taemin yesterday,” I sat back in my seat while Lia’s face lit up. She knew how much I liked him.

“Oooh, TaeTae.” She also knew my nickname I had for him that he didn’t know about.

“I spilled my food on him at dinner and found out he has a gorgeous girlfriend named Naeun.” I finally took a bite from my pizza. Feeling the grease explode in my mouth from the cheese.

“No, TaeTae.” She shook her head with her chin propped up on her folded hands, “Is that what’s bothering you so much?”

“I mean that,” I shrugged, “and some other stuff. I don’t know. I just know that my period is coming soon and that my emotions are all weird.”

“Well what else happened?” She urged, sincerely.

“I just felt out of place yesterday. My brother and his friends were having Korean BBQ for dinner and they invited me and these two other girls. They were so pretty and I was just wearing jeans and this girl was flirting with Kyungsoo. Ugh, she was so annoying and laughing like she was high. I didn’t like her. Then Kyungsoo saw my underwear and bra—“

“What? Whoa, whoa, whoa I’m missing something major here. Who is Kyungsoo?” Lia’s voice went seductive as she said Kyungsoo’s name. I could see the playfulness ready to pounce inside of her and tackle me until I spilled all I knew about this mysterious man.

“He’s my brother’s best friend whose been staying at my house.” I mumbled, picking at the side of my plate.

Lia reached over the table to poke at my shoulder, “You like him don’t you? Ahhh, I thought it was Taemin issues but It sounds like this Kyungsoo is the source of the problem.”

I swatted her hand away, “He is! You don’t understand, I don’t like him and he eats my food and just no! No! I don’t like him.” I felt my cheeks heat up during my rant and my ears were soon to follow as I stared at my best friend who couldn’t stop the wide grin from spreading across her face.

“You like him.”

I sunk down in my seat, tucking my chin into my neck. I knew I looked ugly. “Maybe,” I fidgeted under her intense gaze, “I—Yeah.”

“Aw, Jia.” She cooed, reaching out to pinch my cheek but missing the opportunity when I stood up, “You ready to go?”

Lia caught my hand and sat me down, “No, you have to tell me more! I want to know this Kyungsoo.”

I tugged her out of her seat, whining, “No, there’s nothing more to say. Come on.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

We walked around the mall arm and arm, looking at the pretty dresses and expensive makeup. We stopped by a store that had pastel skirts and tops on display, “Let’s see if we can find you an outfit to impress your roommate.”

“Lia,” I resisted her pull but she was relentless and pushed me into the bright clothing store.

She swamped me with skirts, shirts and dresses to try on before pushing me towards the dressing room. She stood with her back against the door, “You can’t come out until you try them on.”

I stared at the intimidating pile of clothes and decided to try the first thing on top which was a periwinkle skirt and matching top. The fluorescent light in the store did not do my body justice as I saw the faint remnants of past acne scars, the razor bumps on my thighs and legs, and the unsightly muffin top that popped up over the top of the skirt’s waistband. I pulled the band up over the small bulge but didn’t like how my stomach still protruded through the thin fabric. Giving up on this outfit, I decided to put on the next best thing which was a floral dress with a cinched waist. Not even sparing a glance at my body or how the dress looked, I stepped out of the dressing room for Lia to get the satisfaction of me trying something on.

“Here.” My shoulders were slumped forward and my arms covered my chest. Lia looked up from her phone and beamed when she saw how I looked, “You look so pretty.”

“Thanks. Okay, going to change now.” I turned to go back into the dressing room when she pulled me back to look into the three way mirror.

She placed her hands on my shoulders and made me look at myself. I stared at my legs, the only part of my body I liked, and then let my eyes travel up to the actual dress. The colors looked nice against my skin tone, it covered my stomach and actually made it look like I had a waist. My even looked good.

Lia must’ve seen me ogling at myself because she jabbed my sides, “I think you should get it.”

I let the reflection of my own body sink in when out of the corner of my eye I saw a group of familiar guys enter the store and head for the men’s section. My eyes widened and I scurried towards the dressing rooms, tugging Lia with me.

“He’s here.” I hissed, tugging the dress off of my body as I reached for my pants and shirt.

“Whose here? Why are we both hiding?”

I slipped into my clothes before peeking out the dressing room door to see Kyungsoo and his group of friends leaves the store, “Come on, before they come back.”

We exited the dressing room and headed for the exit when Lia tugged my arm, “Hold on, you should seriously buy that dress you tried on.”

“I would if I had money.” I pulled her away from the store with my back to the crowd not noticing the group of guys standing by the opposite store. Lia squinted her eyes and pointed behind me, “Do you know them? They’re looking at us and waving.”

“Hey Jia!” I recognized Chanyeol’s voice and knew I was done for.

“Where have you been keeping those gorgeous guys?” Lia whispered as I turned to face the group.

“They’re my brother’s friends.” I muttered, tugging her behind me.

“I need to hang out with your brother more often,” Lia gasped, “Wait does that mean one of them is Kyungsoo?”

She started jumping as we walked over to them but stopped the moment we were face to face. “Hey guys,” I said halfheartedly.

“You sound so excited to see us.” Baekhyun ruffled my hair before looking over at Lia, “Hi, I’m Baekhyun.”

“Lia.” She giggled like a little girl. I rolled my eyes.

“So what are you guys doing here?” I asked, my eyes fighting themselves so that I wouldn’t look over at the one guy standing off to the side.

“Window shopping, like you guys.” Chanyeol shrugged.

“You guys can tag along with us if you want.” The deep soothing voice of an angel spoke and I could see Lia’s head whip to see where and who it came from. She grinned at Kyungsoo like a cat, “What’s your name?” She asked as if she already knew.

“Kyungsoo.”

The grin spread wider to the point it looked like it hurt, I pushed her to the side, “Thanks but we were just—“

“We were just going to eat.” Lia finished, trying to seize this opportunity.

“Oh we were actually headed in that direction too. We can eat together.” Baekhyun beamed, already sliding his way over to my best friend.

I wanted to reject the offer but I felt Lia subtly pinch my arm before she took to Baekhyun’s arm and walked away. Chanyeol followed leaving me behind with Kyungsoo.

“Hey,” He walked beside me, constantly running his hands through his black hair.

“Hey.” I looked at the shop windows we passed.

“Are you okay?” Kyungsoo glanced over at my turned face, “I-I didn’t mean to embarrass you or anything last night with the whole bra thing. It was actually Kai who put it there. I didn’t touch your stuff.”

I laughed as he began to stutter over his words and reached for his arm as I saw his cheeks turn red, “It’s okay.”

“Good, I thought I made you mad or something this morning.” He looked down at his shoes and ruffled his hair again. It looked so soft and silky.

“Not like you make me mad every other day of the week.” I joked, speaking fast, stumbling over my words.

“What?”

“Nothing.” I felt stupid.

“Oh, I thought you said something.” He shook his head as we walked into the food court following Baekhyun, Lia, and Chanyeol to the vendor that sold Chinese food.

I tapped Kyungsoo’s shoulder, “I’m actually not hungry. I’m just going to find a table for us.”

“Oh, okay.” He looked back at me, nodding.

I sat down at a table for six and watched Lia giggle between Baekhyun and Chanyeol. She was such a flirt, it hurt to watch sometimes. She ordered a small bowl of noodles and found me waiting at the table, “He’s cute you know.”

She broke her chopsticks and mixed her noodles. I nodded absentmindedly, “Yeah, Baekhyun can be cute but he’s too hyper sometimes.”

“I’m not talking about him. I’m talking about your man.”

“He’s not my man.” I crossed my arms watching her bite into her food. I wish he was.

“Well, Kyungsoo’s cute and you need to date him.”

“I need to?”

“Uh, yeah. He’s gorgeous.” Lia continued to eat when Baekhyun and Chanyeol took the seats beside her.

“Who’s gorgeous?” Baekhyun asked, smiling.

“The guy handing out free samples.” Lia covered smoothly.

“Eh, he’s alright.” Baekhyun glanced over at the guy before sitting down. He pointed over at my empty table, “You’re not hungry?”

“Not really.”

“She says that but she’s lying.” Kyungsoo sat down beside me with one Styrofoam container and an extra plate and drink. He put the empty plate in front of me and handed me the extra soft drink, “You said you weren’t hungry this morning. You need to eat.”

I watched him, speechless, as he put a small portion of noodles, rice, and chicken on my plate before putting a fork in my hands. Lia was staring at us too and I could see her lips quivering as she struggled to keep in whatever wanted to come out. She put a fist to but I could see the smile seeping through. I bit down on my lips, feeling the same giddiness as butterflies filled my empty stomach.  

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Sorry for any grammar mistakes I didn't have time to proofread it